Fuel for life: Power of Food author Adam Hart shares his steps to health and happiness

Dana Gee, Postmedia News06.27.2013

Motivational speaker, chef and author Adam Hart moved west to change his life physically and emotionally.Ward Perrin
/ Postmedia News

‘Just give yourself a little love,’ says Adam Hart, author of The Power Of Food. This can be done emotionally, through actions such as meditation, or physically, by eating the right foods.Ward Perrin
/ Postmedia News

Adam Hart with some of his healthy macaroons and vegetables for juicing. His book features recipes designed to fuel body and soul.Ward Perrin
/ Postmedia News

When people find out I am a dietitian they often think I eat boring bland health foods and have no fun. I don’t blame them, because the word dietitian...

The Adam Hart of today has come a long way from the overweight, pre-diabetic, depressed and &shy;anxiety-ridden 20-something he was about 15 years ago.

Now 40, Hart is a successful motivational speaker and chef, and author of the new book The Power of Food.

His step toward a life better led began in 2001 when his doctor told him he was pre-diabetic. That, and his already simmering desire to get off the medication treadmill and actually go outside and move, was what pushed Hart away from Toronto and out West toward a healthier lifestyle and a better understanding of himself.

“I love myself now, that’s the difference,” Hart said.

“I care about myself to the point that every act that I take I am mindful of whether it serves me or not.

“Now that I know what I know, it seems so simple. Just give yourself a little bit of love.”

The love in this case is a two-fold process that includes both emotional and physical acts.

While it all sounds easy — stay positive and don’t eat junk food — those choices aren’t simple when they are for the most part not supported by the outside world.

“I had no idea that I had an option to feel the way I feel now,” said Hart, who calls Squamish home.

“No one ever told me. There was no book I read. That really is my message: You have a choice.”

Hart decided to take his personal story and the messages he was delivering during his workshops and pull them together into The Power Of Food.

The book is divided into two sections: One describes Hart’s emotional action plan and the other is devoted to six “power foods.”

Part of the 11-step emotional action plan is the daily ritual Hart calls “My First Ten” — basically, a few minutes of meditation to start your day.

“I think the main problem for many of us is we know what we should do. We hear it over and over again. But yet we don’t find the time to do it or it’s not in a structure that allows it to make sense for us,” said Hart.

“We really need to find a way to bring all these healthier pieces into one nice box that fits into our go, go, go lifestyle. Where it’s not restrictive and doesn’t take a whole lot of time and mental focus.

“So, for me, it’s the whole idea that you get up in the morning, you get into your own space and do two, three, four minutes of meditation. Do a quick visualization about what it is you’d like your life to be and you go about your day.”

The book’s power foods section includes recipes that Hart says will fuel your physical and emotional self.

“The thing for me is you have two audiences,” said Hart, who will launch his own raw energy mix product this fall. “There is the nutrition audience, then there is the intention and spiritual side of things.”

A big concept in today’s wellness world is mindfulness — something Hart discovered while hanging off a mountainside in the Rocky Mountains after he left Toronto more than a decade ago.

“Through rock climbing I was able to learn to separate from my thoughts. For a long time they were very negative as I suffered from depression and anxiety.

“As I got into nature and I started to do more of these adventure sports, I found myself becoming a happier person. So I applied that technique to my everyday routine,” said Hart about his time in Golden.

“I found I was able to learn some techniques that put me in the same state I was in when I was on the side of a mountain, but in my bedroom, in my office or in the car stuck in traffic,” said Hart.

Actually the traffic scenario was another signpost — or, rather, a tipping point — for the once uptight Toronto guy to change his ways.

“I had a very bad history of road rage when I was in Toronto, and so all of a sudden I am in Vancouver and I am in traffic. I am gripping the steering wheel and my shoulders are shrugging up and I’m not breathing anymore,” said Hart.

“Instead of the old pattern where I would be screaming and yelling and smacking the dashboard, all of a sudden I am thinking now: ‘Wait a minute, I have been nurturing myself over the last few years, feeding myself better food, meditating more.’ I’m all of a sudden able to recognize the feeling and say, ‘OK this isn’t serving me. What’s my other option, my other choice?’ I can choose to breathe, relax and think of something I am grateful for.”

Hart pauses on the “being grateful,” statement.

“You know, always thinking of something you are grateful for is a quick way to snap out of it. Do that, then all of sudden everything relaxes.”

This concept is not really rocket science, so why do we resist spending quality time with ourselves?

“I really believe it comes down to our own belief systems and patterns. We get so locked into survival mode and living and not having a very strong relationship to yourself. . . . that’s where the healing starts, when we reconnect to our relationship to our self and start to understand why we feel the way we feel.

“Just bring in some simple techniques that allow us to wake up a little bit.”

The simple techniques Hart talks about do not mean blowing up your whole life. Nope, Hart is a small-steps-lead-to-success kind of guy. He doesn’t say drop everything and rebuild your life from scratch. Nope, that’s not going to work.

What he does advocate is adding in healthier options to your life, or as he describes it: bringing in the light to push out the dark.

“It’s not about get out there and jog around your block a 100 times,” said Hart. “No, it’s get out there and go for a five-minute walk and that’s all you gotta do. And that’s what these action steps are based on.”

Within those small steps, the most important one is changing your diet.

“There isn’t any act more powerful than feeding myself food that makes me feel good,” said Hart. “I really began to then stretch those moments out and be mindful of it.”

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Fuel for life: Power of Food author Adam Hart shares his steps to health and happiness